One of the recurring themes we find when speaking with SMEs is that there is little clarity about what they are trying to achieve. Whether this is from a start up owner, or an established company looking to change.
Simply put, not many managers or owners have the clarity of vision. They do not have a goal of where they would like to be next year, in two years or as far as in 5 years time. Hence ask yourself the simple question, “I’m running this business, what am I trying to do?”.
Typical responses would be:
- Increase turnover;
- Increase profits;
- Increase the number of customers.
Great, but how exactly do you do this?
Does the manager/owner establish the vision?
Do they know exactly what they are delivering and to whom?
Or, is the company flailing around trying to meet the demands of everybody?
Hence, come back to basics; answer the question, what business are you really in?
Not marketing, television, PR, or consultancy.
What exactly do you have to deliver to your customers to make the value exchange?
Take Accentis for example, we’re a Chartered Accountancy practice and each day we know we help our customers no matter what part of the life cycle that their business is in. So for start ups, we help bring the idea to life. For mature companies, we help nurture the brand through to old age. For everyone on the journey, we take care of the compliance needs of the business, that’s a given, that’s our bread and butter; but the exciting things we do is help your business to grow.
We know what we do, for whom, how and why.